ACA TIP: No children, so why do I need pediatric dental coverage?

Starting Jan. 1, the health care law requires individual and small-group health plans to cover 10 essential benefits, including pediatric (but not adult) dental coverage. The coverage is sometimes offered as part of a regular health plan, but it's also sold on a standalone basis.

Here's where it gets tricky. People are not required to buy the pediatric coverage if they buy a plan on the state health insurance marketplaces, or exchanges, unless their state specifically requires it. But people who buy plans outside a state marketplace may not have the same flexibility - because there's no exemption from the requirement outside the exchanges.

Find answers to more than 25 common Affordable Care Act questions at Cincinnati.com/dailydose. Do you have a question? Send it to Enquirer health care reporter Lisa

Bernard-Kuhn at lbernard@enquirer.com. Follow her on Twitter @bernardkuhn and her coverage using #ACAfacts.